The known technique currently used for elemental analysis of halogens envisages to oxidize by combustion a known amount of the sample inside a flask containing oxygen at a predetermined pressure. The combustion gases are then absorbed by manually stirring on an aqueous solution provided within the oxidation flask. The obtained solution is then titrated in a known way in order to determine the quantity of halogens present in the substance. Should individual determination of halogens be required, the solution may be submitted to separation and detection of the separated compounds.
It is evident that this method, totally manual, is extremely slow and time consuming, especially if compared to elemental analysis techniques for C, H, N, S, that are almost completely automated.